Planet Hoff, Pegasus Galaxy
John Sheppard, fully disguised and encased in his chromesuit, walked alongside his similarly disguised team and regarded the vibrant city vista around them as they were escorted in a long exterior walkway in one of Hoff's many government facilities. This human world reminded him somewhat of what Earth had looked like in the 1920s, at least in terms of construction and materials science. It was married to the odd sight of having internal combustion automobiles at a level they were roundabout the fifties on Earth, along with electric trams.
Their escort was in fact, the planet's leader; a rotund, bearded man with greying white hair in a suit – Chancellor Druhin. He struck John as a forthright, pragmatic politician. He'd never thought he'd hear himself say this of any politician, but John wished that a lot more men like this were walking around in the corridors of power on Earth. Then again, the people of Pegasus couldn't afford to deal with the petty crap that usually came with self-righteous politicians, so full of themselves…not when they were on the dinner menu for some Wraith.
Druhin led them underground, on a walkway that stretched for a very long time, keeping a running commentary of the various rooms they passed, dedicated to this or that scientific function. The Hoffans clearly believed that going underground and out of sight from orbit was the best way to shield their accomplishments from the Wraith. It was very practical.
Finally, they passed an area that was brimming with bulky heavy equipment and steam that leaked from various valves which turned the atmosphere rather humid.
"Reliable power generation is one of our greatest concerns. With this project, we hope, soon, to be able to convert and utilise the intense heat trapped beneath the surface of our planet," Druhin explained in his deep, rumbling voice, gesturing to the pulsing machinery.
"Geo-thermo energy," Rodney piped up and turned to stare at the equipment with incredulity – the alien holomask was capable somewhat of emoting in tune with their faces, but only for the major ones. "What? Using this? Huh! Do you have any idea how complex geo-thermo energy is..."
"McKay…" John's tone was forbidding; he gave a warning glance in the scientists' direction – who abruptly realized he was being insulting to the locals…
"I mean…it's going to work no problems."
"Looks like you're accomplishing great things here, Chancellor," John stated, eager to get the Chancellor's mind away from Rodney and throwing in a compliment.
"Since the last Wraith culling we have worked diligently to rebuild our society."
"Are you not concerned that your efforts will attract the attention of the Wraith?" Teyla asked with concern.
"Yes ... but we refuse to let that stop us from striving to reach our potential. To do otherwise would simply mean victory for them. However, we currently are working on a viable defence."
They were led from the geo-thermal area down the long corridor into what had to be a chemical lab; with white surfaces everywhere, test-tubes, Bunsen burners, the whole gambit, although it clearly lacked any computer based equipment or others like sonic cleaners, and micro scales.
"Defence? Really?" John said as Rodney walked around the lab with a look of nostalgia on his face, but clearly interested at the mention of a defence. "We've been here for two days before you mention that?"
"You are a non-human alien race, I had to learn that you could be trusted," Druhin retorted. John suppressed his wince at hearing that, and reasoned that he would do the same thing in the Chancellor's shoes.
"You're talking about some sort of defensive weapon?" Ford spoke up for the first time, as the Spec Ops specialist.
"You could call it that. Something that we hope will protect us from the next Wraith culling," Druhin stated mildly.
"So you are expecting it to happen again?" Rodney queried.
"Of course. But if the Wraith return as they have historically, they won't be here for at least another fifty years."
"Fifty years, you say," Rodney gave a dark look in John's direction.
"What about that weapon?" John winced, he hadn't yet told the Hoff of recent events in the Galaxy.
"Yes, yes – if you'll just come this way." Druhin lead the way out of the lab.
On the way to the next area, Rodney enabled a private link with John which would ensure privacy in the communication. "You haven't told them that we practically woke the Wraith from hibernation, have you?"
"Well ... I really haven't had the chance," John retorted.
"We've been here two days!"
"One and a half, really."
"Major, they're not expecting the Wraith for another fifty years. We have to let them know they could show up at any time now."
"If you're so eager, why don't you tell them!" John grumbled in anger.
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Chancellor Druhin led them to another part of the sprawling underground complex. This one clearly more medical in orientation; the people were wearing white, the walls were white, and there would occasionally be a doctor pushing a patient on a gurney to another area.
There were armed guards stationed at most access points as well – carrying bolt action rifles.
Finally they entered another laboratory.
"I don't think there's a hope in hell these people could have a weapon that ..." Ford mumbled critically.
"Weapons come in all shapes and sizes, Lieutenant." John cut him off, while he privately agreed, there was a small chance that the Hoffans did indeed have something.
A Hoffan scientist picked up a small test tube out of its rack, filled with a reddish liquid and handed it to the Chancellor, who in turn handed it to John. Was this a chemical weapon?
"OK, I'm intrigued. What is it?"
"Something that we hope will one day make us completely immune to the Wraith."
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Conference Room, Atlantis, Lantea
"According to Chancellor Druhin the drug is still several years away from being finished."
John and his team had finally returned after three days on Hoff, to deliver their report since the initial first contact. General Theron and Captain Herodotus (now officially vested by the STO as second in command of Atlantis) sat pensively in their seats as they listened to the most interesting discovery of the mission.
"I'd say, given their current level of technology, that, er, could be an under-statement. Just because they believe they're close to a breakthrough, it doesn't mean that they are," McKay pointed out.
"You saw for yourself – their entire civilisation is based upon the completion of that goal, Doctor McKay. I would not under-estimate them." Teyla said evenly.
"We don't know for certain that the Wraith threat is immediate to Hoff, perhaps we should have the Briseus swing around that area of space," Theron mused.
"We can probably bet they don't have fifty years."
"Hence Major Sheppard has generously offered our help to the Hoffans," Rodney pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Has he?" the General narrowed her eyes at John.
"Look, the fact is, if they're onto something, maybe we can speed up the process."
"OK, Major, you have a go. But if the drug really is just a pipe dream..."
"Our Doctor Beckett's already volunteered to help us find that out."
"Oh, he has, huh?" Theron grinned in amusement, she turned to Herodotus. "Is there any amongst the Lanteans who you feel could assist in this?"
"We were a ship of war," Herodotus said rather unnecessarily. "The only one who could come close to helping in the practical development of a drug is Pulla, she was the Aurora's Sickbay Chief."
"Every bit counts at this point, the strategic benefit of having this would be even greater than the Hyperspace Jammer. If we could develop and somehow distribute this to all the worlds in Pegasus, we'd be starving the Wraith, literally."
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Hoff Research Complex
Barely a few hours later, Sheppard's team plus two was walking down the same corridor. The first was Doctor Beckett, striding along with a distinctly irritated manner. Next to him, infinitely more dignified and serene, was 'Doctor' Pulla. Like all the Alterans that had been revived, she was at a relative biological age in her mid to late twenties; with long auburn hair, blue eyes and the indefinable attractiveness that all of them seemed to share in one way or another. Of course, none of this was visible through the chromesuit and holomask, but her general attractive form was.
"It's not that I mind lending people a hand ..." Carson Beckett explained irately.
"No, of course not," John said immediately.
"You're a generous man, Carson," McKay supported.
"... but it's the principle of the thing, isn't it? You can't go volunteering someone for something without consulting them first. That's not even volunteering, is it? It's being pressed into service."
"Expedition Command gave an order, you're part of the Command, technically you are being ordered into service," Pulla pointed out ironically.
"I know tha', Doctor, it's just tha…" grumbled Beckett but trailed off.
"He just doesn't like going through the Stargate," McKay humorously pointed out.
"He's worse than Doctor McCoy," John grinned.
"Who?" Teyla asked in confusion.
"A popular science fiction character that Doctor Beckett plays in real life," John explained with a laugh.
"Converting somebody into energy and sending it millions of light years through a wormhole – bloody insanity," Beckett drawled his accent thickening.
"C'mon, how often do you get to travel to an alien planet?" Rodney pointed out.
"I was already on an alien planet!"
Both Terran and Alteran medical professionals were soon in the Hoffan medical lab where the main research was being conducted. Hovering behind them was one of the Transcendental Storage Boxes; containing all the equipment they'd probably need in the coming weeks. Beckett and Pulla both materialized scanners and moved around the lab, eyeing the various equipment, chemicals, and other substances on display.
"From the looks of things they've mastered a few basics – biochemistry, physiology, perhaps even some form of molecular biology. Fairly impressive considering the relative stage of development they're at," Carson declared.
"I agree," nodded Pulla, her tone sounding more optimistic at any rate. "The chances of this project succeeding are much greater than I had originally thought…"
"It is our people's legacy. This room represents hundreds of years of medical knowledge." The unfamiliar voice belonged to a woman, dressed in the white of one of the Hoffan medical researchers. She had a pleasant warmth about her, the type where you knew you were in good hands if you were ever sick. Kind hazel eyes stared at them with interest and fascination. "I am Perna, chief scientist for the project."
"John Sheppard. This is Teyla, and Lieutenant Ford ...
"Carson. Beckett. Doctor. I mean, call me Carson." John had to stifle his snort of amusement at seeing the soppy way the Doctor was smiling – the holomask conveyed it pretty well. "And this is Doctor Pulla."
"I'm, uh, Doctor McKay, Doctor Rodney McKay." The scientist also clearly besotted with the woman, held out his hand, she looked at him, confused, ignoring his hand not understanding the greeting custom, then turned to Carson and Pulla.
"I hope you will find our facilities suitable."
"Oh, they're charming! Perfectly charming!" Carson replied. Pulla sighed and shook her head in exasperation. Men!, she thought. Even after all the eons of her races' existence, men still acted like idiots around attractive women. It seemed even the second evolution had inherited that trait.
A few minutes later the Chancellor and the rest of the team left the Doctors to continue the tour of the more sensitive areas of the complex. Perna, in the meantime, had pulled a thick book from a cupboard and laid it open in front of the two Lanteans.
"His name was Ferrel Mylan. Before he died in the last culling, he was one of our most celebrated medical researchers. He was the one who found it."
"Found what?"
"The key. His journals tell of one man who survived an encounter with the Wraith. Ferrel and his team discovered that this man possessed a unique protein, one that enabled him to resist the chemical released by the Wraith to precipitate draining of life from their victims. After painstaking trial and error ..." Perna gestured to the relevant page; with meticulous hand drawn cell diagrams, cross-sections, and even a rudimentary form of organic chemistry formulas. Both Doctors took it all in a glance.
"Ferrel made a copy of the protein," Pulla stated, looking intrigued.
"He was eventually able to create a prototype of a drug designed to interfere with the Wraith feeding process."
"And it worked?" Carson asked incredulously.
"Ferrel was killed before the drug could be used to defend Hoff," she shook her head sadly.
"And it's been your job to make certain his work wasn't in vain. Quite the responsibility," Carson commented heavily.
"It is a great honour," Perna stated humbly.
"I hate to be sceptical in this case, but how do you know for certain that this Ferrel wasn't just embellishing his results, or for that matter making them up? I mean, all you have to go on are his notes."
"He and his team worked until the last possible moment. They knew the Wraith ships were overhead and still they worked through the night, hoping to provide one more insight, one last thread of knowledge – not for themselves but for the generation that would survive. Ten thousand soldiers gave their lives to give them those last few hours. The last words of Ferrel's journal are known to all Hoffans." Perna explained with deep feeling and conviction that swayed both Carson and Pulla.
"We meant no disrespect for your ancestors sacrifice," Pulla shook her head sadly.
"It's alright. More than just his journals survived the culling." The Hoffan walked over to her desk and took out a thin glass slide, made for storing and viewing cells under microscope. "His research materials were safeguarded as well, including carefully-preserved Wraith cell samples which we still use in our work today." She put the cell slide into a rather bulky microscope, under its lens and gestured for the two Doctors to look through the eyepiece. "Please. See for yourself."
Carson, ever the gentlemen let his female colleague go first. Pulla awkwardly pushed the conforming faceplate of her chromesuit helmet against the top…the AI helpfully took the light from the microscope and displayed it on her HUD. She recognized that it was indeed Wraith cells…then she saw the protein Perna mentioned and…
"By Creation," Pulla stepped back from the microscope, totally astonished. Her people had suspected that with enough time, and Wraith Cullings, humanity in Pegasus might naturally evolve cellular defences…but to see it in her lifetime…
"That's incredible!" Carson stood up after viewing it too and the two Doctors shared a meaningful glance. Silently vowing to do whatever they could to get this drug working.
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Conference Room 1, SGC, Earth, Milky Way
Harry, Bra'tac, Teal'c, Jacob, General Hammond, Jack O'Neill and Sam, were all seated around the conference table, all listening in on the report Jacob had brought back from Tok'ra after a week's high priority sleuthing.
"We've confirmed that Anubis has a base on Tartarus. A powerful sensor array prevents anyone from approaching the planet unnoticed. The Stargate on Tartarus is inside the structure and has a powerful force field protecting it."
"We need to know exactly how Anubis created this new soldier, confirm what we believe his intentions are, and if possible, stop him. Any ideas?" Hammond queried to everyone.
"Even if we could defeat the force field, we have to assume that the Stargate would be heavily guarded," posited Sam.
"We must gain access to the planet by somehow temporarily shutting down the sensor array," Teal'C rumbled.
"If it's only a force field, then we already have the key to accessing the Stargate on Tartarus," Harry explained. "I will don the super-soldier's armor, walk through and infiltrate the base."
"What if using the suit has a physical cost? We have no way of knowing." Bratac pointed out.
"Even if there is such a cost, I'll be fine," Harry said firmly. "Besides I doubt it, if using the suit brought about a physical toll, it would make the super-soldiers horrendously short lived, even more so than they seemingly are now. It makes no sense economically speaking for Anubis to even make them then."
"So are we going with sabotage or a direct assault with Destroyers?" Jack asked.
"The ground to space defenses of the base is formidable," Jacob reported. "Anubis has none of his advanced Ha'taks for defense around Tartarus, for secrecy reasons. But the base itself has the phased plasma main guns and shields. Any ship you send would get heavily damaged if not destroyed. I suggest sticking to sabotage."
Harry inwardly grinned – Jacob would quickly revise his opinion if he saw the weapons Odyssey and Apollo were packing these days – a lot of it no small part due to the efforts of the Tollan Remnant on Luna. Deadalus and Prometheus were at this moment in the Luna Shipyards getting a similar weapons overhaul. And if that wasn't enough, the as yet unnamed Cruiser class ship would send the Goa'uld packing with their tails between their legs.
"As much as I would like besting Anubis in a straight up fight, I think we should keep our ships as an ace in the hole," Jack stated evenly.
"The STO agrees with you," nodded Hammond.
"Once I've deactivated the sensor array, a Tok'ra scout ship can then approach the planet with all the gear we'll need. Radioactive isotopes taken beforehand will permit us to move around freely without being detected by internal sensors inside the base," Harry explained.
"What's your exit plan?"
"The scout ship. During the mission, I will conceal it in one of the planet's many low lying chasms, powering down to further avoid detection," Bratac offered.
"Make it happen, people."
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SGC Gateroom
Harry stood awkwardly in the matt black armor of the super-soldier. It was rather uncomfortably tight, and grated on his skin. It made him wish ever harder that he could wear his chromesuit underneath, but there was every chance that internal scans of the base would reveal the presence of foreign technology. The only thing they could risk was a Tok'ra communicator tucked behind one of the breast plates of the armor – they were inherently designed to be undetectable from a variety of scans.
The Stargate was dialed and an active outgoing subspace path to Tartarus had been established.
"Commodore, you okay in there?" Hammond asked.
"Somewhat, though it's lighter than it appears," Harry commented. "Have they arrived?"
"They should be there. Good luck."
"Thanks," Harry tapped his head, and Sergeant Siler and another tech lowered the super-soldier helmet and secured it. Harry now saw the world through a dark red HUD that was visually analyzing what was around him, and displaying the results in small Goa'uld characters. 'This must be what Darth Vader feels like," he thought bemusedly.
He took a few measured steps and feeling comfortable began to adopt the heavy walking style of the super-soldier and stepped up the ramp, and walked unflinchingly into the event horizon.
He completed his step on Tartarus and felt the buzzing of energy wash over him as he emerged, making the armor vibrate somewhat. It was gone in barely a moment though and he looked behind him to see an orange force field covering the Tartarus Gate. Anyone not wearing energy dampening armor would be vaporized instantly coming through the gate.
Harry turned around and immediately wondered if Anubis had perhaps seen one too many Bond films or even Austin Powers for that matter. Anubis' base was actually the inner hull of a Command class mothership, minus the exterior petal sections.
And it was perched above a fiery volcanic canyon.
'He was known for being overly melodramatic," Egeria chuckled into their shared mind.
"Yeah, it's too bad his bark is just as bad as his bite, then."
Tartarus itself seemed to be a world in its final stages of development before becoming Earth-Class. The atmosphere was in good shape but the land mass had still a few centuries to go before it would settle into a somewhat stable form.
The Stargate was situated on an exterior platform, with a connecting bridge that led directly into the main superstructure of the base. Harry began his journey crossing it, and a large set of doors split open automatically at his approach. Inside the superstructure, it was pretty much the usual gaudy Goa'uld interior. Finding the sensor array controls near the upper levels of the superstructure would be easy, if the ship layout hadn't been modified too extensively when it was turned into a base.
He had barely been inside for two minutes when he was stopped by a very familiar Goa'uld.
"You. Come with me," said Thoth. Harry wished he could simply raise his gauntlet weapon and cut the Goa'uld scientist in half. The bastard was partially responsible for the near destruction of the Tollan civilization, and turning the Tollan Curia governing body against the Alliance. Harry had to maintain the act as a super-soldier though and so he dutifully followed Thoth.
They proceeded up a few levels and entered a form of specialized lab, seemingly catering to the super-soldiers. There was a row of full body chairs bathed in blue light that was specially shaped for them, in addition to holo screens showing data in Goa'uld characters.
"Sit," Thoth gestured to the nearest chair. Harry obeyed again and sat down in the surprisingly comfortable chair. The scientist pushed a button on a device on his wrist, and a scanning light played up and down Harry's form. "You seem damaged," he mused and sat down behind one of the diagnostic consoles and began to tap away at it.
What followed a long hour of watching Thoth like a hawk; Harry had no idea if these scans would find anything amiss which would alert the scientist that something was wrong – he had to trust that Tok'ra engineering and radioactive isotopes did their job in fooling the sensors.
It was barely a few moments later when Harry had a dubious honor.
He was the first of the Alliance to be in the same room with Anubis himself and not in holographic form.
The banished, half-ascended Goa'uld was in his usual Dark Lord ensemble of synthetic black robe with overly big sleeves and hooded cowl bordered in red…pure oily darkness seemed to be underneath that cowl…where there should have been a face.
Harry curiously wondered what would happen should he hit Anubis right here with a Killing Curse. It would definitely destroy the force shield that held his body of pure energy together and capable of affecting the material realm, without it he would be a wraith – like Voldemort had been…only capable of possessing others to effect similar change. Harry was tempted…but it would only cause more death than it would be preventing.
Anubis was not alone though and a Jaffa in a black leather outfit, with crossed swords sheathed on his back accompanied him – these were the elite and most dedicated of Anubis' Jaffa.
"Thoth," Anubis' grating voice shrieked in the room.
The scientist rose to his feet and immediately bowed at the waist. "Lord Anubis, I was not expecting you."
"Tell me how this one has fared," Anubis gestured towards Harry.
"This one has just returned, my Lord," Thoth replied nervously, "I need time to finish my preliminary analysis before I can make a proper report."
"It can wait," Anubis gestured dismissively, "there is a remote probe malfunctioning. It requires your attention."
"Yes, my Lord."
Thoth followed Anubis and the Jaffa out, leaving Harry alone. He let out a breath of relief and after waiting ten minutes to make sure Thoth didn't return unexpectedly, stood and headed out the room – he had a date with a sensor array.
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Powering down a critical system like a sensor array without anyone else in the base becoming wise to it was not a walk in the park. The super-soldier armor provided easy movement throughout the base and he was not harassed in approaching the Goa'uld version of a Sensor Relay Room; which basically was a sub-processor station offshoot of the main computer core. The single Jaffa manning the main console in the centre of the room was rather startled at his entrance.
"What is it?" the Jaffa asked stoically, though Harry could sense he was rather uncomfortable in the presence of a super-soldier.
Harry stopped a few feet away from the seated Jaffa, who had turned to face him. "Lord Thoth summons you," Harry droned, the super-soldier's helmet distorted his voice considerably, and again Harry wondered if Anubis had seen Star Wars.
"Where is my relief? This place cannot be left unattended."
"Lord Thoth summons you," Harry repeated simply, cocking his head slightly and playing the mindless soldier.
The Jaffa scowled visibly and stood, shaking his head and muttering, "You Kull Warriors might be formidable in battle, but you have no initiative, no soul, and that is no warrior." As the Jaffa passed Harry, in a blur of movement he struck; hitting the back of the Jaffa's skull with precision and just enough power to give instant unconsciousness, but without killing.
The Jaffa just keeled over and Harry caught his body before he could make a sound by hitting the deck. Dumping the body immediately out of sight behind the console, he headed over to the door, sealed it and took the Jaffa's place at the sensor controls.
It was the work of thirty minutes programming a sensor feedback loop, which would give the computer and the main command centre of the base a false sensor image of just plain empty space in the Tartarus System. With that done, Harry briefly pulled off one of the super-soldier gauntlets and gloves on his left hand to deliver a long lasting Stunner energy matrix into the prone Jaffa.
Getting the rest of SG1 into the base would be easy now. He pulled out the Tok'ra communicator and sent the 'All clear' signal for the cargo ship that should be hiding behind one of Tartarus' moons. Harry waited nervously for about ten seconds when the 'On our way' message came through.
Half a minute later, "We're out from behind the moon and are making our approach," Sam's voice filtered through the encryption.
"Good, have Bratac' hover you to one of the exhaust ports on the northernmost perimeter of the base." Harry instructed and replaced the communicator in its hiding spot and redressed in the 'Kull' armor.
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Harry was forced to remove the helmet, gloves and gauntlets to be able to get the precision required to mess with the internal mechanics of the exhaust port. Finally, after a rather nerve wracking ten minutes of tinkering the port opened, allowing Teal'C and Sam entrance with all the gear they would need – Jack would remain behind with Bratac since they were going for stealth and that meant less infiltrators. For once, Anubis' penchant for secrecy worked in their favor, Tartarus was very sparsely populated with patrols, and their luck held out – no roving patrols discovered them.
"That took longer than I expected," Sam stated, whilst Teal'C kept his PR8 up and alert for any patrols.
"Yeah well, Anubis has significantly improved his internal security over the standard Ha'tak class. I saw that he was even using one of the oldest known dialects of Alteran combined with enhanced encryption."
"But you broke it," she grinned.
"Yes," Harry shrugged, getting back in his full Kull armor again. They didn't want to get into a fight with any Kull warrior, and since they were also invulnerable to each other the only advantage it would offer would be for Harry to soak up damage and provide a distraction.
Now they had to be careful of discovery whilst they hunted for the intelligence. Harry would remain in full sight, whilst Teal'C and Sam shadowed him in the recesses along the corridors. It was during this time that they encountered three other Kull warriors all deliberately walking with purpose somewhere in the base.
"How many do you think Anubis has?" Sam said softly.
"There's no way of telling yet," Harry shook his head. "The lab I was in was made to service several. So at a guess, fifty odd."
Some time later they entered another lab that seemed to be designed for the Kull warriors, however, this one was much larger. It had numerous fluid tanks, and flowing pool areas which were designed for only one purpose.
"Symbiote holding tanks," Harry sighed. "They are empty, and that is not a good sign."
"This one is not," Teal'C called from one end of the lab. Sam and Harry walked down to meet him and there, with its bloated womb was a Goa'uld queen.
"Judging by the number of holding tanks in this room, Anubis must be planning to have the Queen spawn thousands of Goa'uld. But why? A symbiote is spawned with the genetic memory of the maternal bloodline. They're egomaniacal and power hungry. That's not exactly a good combination for a foot soldier."
Harry removed his helmet and his eyes glowed and Egeria surged to the fore. "You are correct, Major Carter. But recall a Queen's abilities with regards to her young." Egeria waved a scanner over the Goa'uld Queen. "It's as I thought. This Queen is consciously blocking off her mind – she has no intention of passing on her genetic memory. The symbiotes will be 'blank slates'. Anubis will be free to imprint them however he sees fit. No free will—they're drones. They make the perfect soldier. Deadly, fearless, unquestioning loyalty."
"This Queen must not be permitted to spawn again," Teal'C declared.
"I agree, we already have enough of a problem, since I detect she has gone through a spawn cycle already," Egeria said grimly staring at the Alteran styled scanner. "Combine that with the fact that these tanks are empty…"
"Anubis could have thousands of super-soldiers already," Sam deduced with horror.
"A distinct possibility," Egeria nodded. "Place the nuclear device right here. Then we will see if we can confirm that fact."
Sam pulled out an NQN from her pack, armed it and stuck it right to the bottom of the Queen's holding tank where it would be out of immediate sight. Egeria replaced the helmet over Harry's head and the trio walked out.
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"There must be a console somewhere that will let us access a log of recent activity. Even if it doesn't contain Anubis' long-range plans, we might be able to gather intel on the movement of his fleet." Sam aimed her PR8 down one corridor of a main junction.
"Perhaps," Harry said, reading the Goa'uld markings on the wall near another corridor, "labs and storage in this direction." He looked towards Teal'C's position. "Engineering is that way. I think to the left is our best bet for Anubis' quarters."
What they found wasn't Anubis' quarters, but a large indoor arena. The three infiltrators crouched in an observation dome/balcony that looked over the area. The arena was the height of Goa'uld bling and design arrogance; obsidian floors, gold and grey black walls, with at the head of the arena long windows that allowed the dark red hued sun to spill light into the place. It was here that an anti-gravity platform hovered, on which stood Anubis himself gazing imperiously out over the arena.
An arena that was practically filled with marching Kull warriors in perfect formation.
Anubis' voice boomed over a PA and echoed darkly across the area. "You are all my children. Kull Warriors. You are the instruments of my conquest."
In unison the Kull Warriors responded. "Hail Anubis! Hail Anubis! Hail Anubis!"
"Now that is something you don't see every day," Harry said mildly, it belied the fact that it felt like his insides had turned to ice. "Think our nuke is big enough?"
"The amount of naquadah alloy in this base, not to mention its own power core and the naquadria nuke," Sam considered it for a mock moment. "That's a big bang…I'd not want to be on the same continent."
"Fools!"
Harry and the others whirled as Thoth showed himself, ribbon device raised and glowing. Teal'C drew and raised his zat in an instant, but couldn't fire because Harry had sprinted for the Goa'uld with all the speed he could muster. Thoth fired a kinetic wave, which was easily absorbed by the Kull armor – it was pretty much a petty and stupid gesture with retrospect. Thoth could've easily snuck away and raised the alarm and brought the entire Kull army running to capture or kill them. Luckily for them, he was a Goa'uld – and by his nature was arrogant and self-serving to the detriment of common sense. Thoth was also no warrior, despite having the strength a Goa'uld imbues in their hosts.
Harry had that from Egeria, plus his Alteran heritage, countless hours of training and battle.
It was pretty much over in less than three seconds. He deflected a clumsy but powerful punch from Thoth, stepped into close quarters, grabbed Thoth by the neck and kneed the Goa'uld in the gut with enough force to damage internal organs and break ribs. It was followed up by Harry threading his arm around the neck and with the motion of leverage, snapped Thoth's neck.
It was quick and quiet.
Unfortunately, the kinetic wave from the ribbon device had tripped the internal sensors – the main base alarm sounded.
"We've got to get out of here," Harry hissed and they ran, Sam summoned Bratac to return via the communicator as they went.
"Time for stealth is gone, Bratac! Just get back to the insertion point," she shouted into the communicator.
Harry led the way, finding the most efficient route back to the exhaust port entrance they had used. A hair raising dash later, where their luck held out with no Kull warrior intercepting them yet, Harry triggered the exhaust port's purging function and opened the way for them to leave.
The cargo ship was already there and hovering with its side entrance open and waiting for them to jump the gap. Sam went first and easily made it…Bratac clearly showing his pilot skill by holding the ship to within a few feet of the base. Teal'C went next and finally Harry.
They secured the ship's airlock and rushing into the cargo's ship's bridge area, when they heard a loud thud on the hull.
"What was that?" Jack asked from the co-pilot seat of the ship.
"Can't be good, just punch it!" Sam called, breathing hard from their run.
The cargo ship turned and streaked away from Anubis' base, phased plasma bolts chasing them all the way. Under the expert guidance of Bratac they were only hit a few times, draining the shields badly, but it protected them long enough to get out of range.
A beeping on Bratac's console occurred at that moment. "Someone has opened the rear engine access hatch."
"We're mid flight!" Sam cried in disbelief.
Disbelief turned to cold hard reality when a Kull warrior charged into the bridge area. Sam pointlessly fired her PR8 on full auto into the thing's chest. It swung and connected a solid forearm to her head which sent her sprawling onto the deck. Next it raised a gauntlet towards Teal'C and sent a burst of plasmatic destruction towards him, only a single bolt managed to hit the Jaffa in the shoulder before he could find cover.
It was at this point that Harry weighed in. The Kull warrior sent a burst in his direction, which was absorbed harmlessly. He closed the range again and it boiled down to another close quarter's battle.
Harry traded punches and kicks with the warrior, but again the very features of the armor dissipated the kinetic energy of the punches and kicks. He ended up having to once again use leverage and joint locks and twists to effectively fight. The Kull warrior was much better than Thoth, but only in terms of training, it had no proper experience to draw from – the Kull was essentially a machine in terms of hand to hand. It used superior strength to brute force its opponents, and was way stronger than a Goa'uld, but there was little in the way of control or technique.
The battle carried over into the rear cargo area, where Harry deflected two swings from the Kull by dodging and slapping the limbs away. He grabbed a hold of its right arm, and using leverage, pulled the Kull's arm right out of its socket. With it's centre of gravity off tilt he swept its legs out from under it, and it crashed to the floor face first.
A quick as a snake he planted his knee on the spine of the Kull, grabbed a hold of its helmet and with a quick twist…broke its neck.
Breathing heavily from the exertion he stood up and dragged the Kull till it was within the circle of the Transport Rings and walking towards the controls, tapped in a sequence. With a shrill scream the obsidian rings raised around the supposedly dead Kull and transported it away, to materialize onto a Ring platform within Anubis' base.
Harry pulled off his helmet and wearily trudged forward into the bridge area. Jack was tending to both the wounded Teal'C and Sam, but it was clear from his impressed and slightly awed eyes that he had seen the whole battle.
"Damn, remind me never to piss you off," Jack said.
Harry chuckled ruefully in response but a look out the forward bridge windows told him they were out in space already. "Bratac, maintain our forward momentum, swung us around to look at the planet – send the signal."
"It'll be my pleasure," nodded the old Jaffa with satisfaction. The cargo ship killed it forward acceleration and rotated until Tartarus was dominating the view. They were only about half a light second away, and there was a beeping from the console. "The signal is sent."
A few moments later, a massive flash of light reached them, forcing them to look away briefly. When they could see again, it was to witness the awesome power of pure nuclear destruction; a truly massive shockwave was spreading in a perfect concentric sphere from ground zero…the clouds had become mere streaks of thin lines as the massive atmospheric displacement of air…in the centre of it all a massive bloom of pure fire reached up.
Harry sat down somewhat awkwardly in the co-pilot's chair and began to run scans and recording for post-mission analysis, but he could verify one thing immediately.
"Anubis' base is completely incinerated, folks."
"You all have the thanks of the Free Jaffa today," Bratac declared. "There is no telling how many lives we have saved with the destruction of so many of Anubis' warriors."
"It was a team effort, Bratac," Harry said, "but unfortunately, we can't be sure that this was the only Kull warrior production facility. There is a strong possibility Anubis has more."
"Nevertheless, this is a massive blow to the Goa'uld."
"Especially if we tagged Anubis with that nuke," agreed Jack.
"We probably did," nodded Harry. "He'll be just a disembodied wraith of energy, only able to possess the bodies of others. The Stargate here was also destroyed, so he'll be stuck until a ship comes for him."
A few minutes later the cargo ship reoriented and vanished into a Hyperspace window.
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Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy
Carson and Pulla walked excitedly along with General Theron down one of the corridors of the Central Spire of Atlantis on their way to the Gate room, eagerly relaying their findings of the Hoffan drug.
"We saw it with our own eyes, General," Carson said intently.
"In a Petri dish, and we are talking about a hundred and fifty year old Wraith cells. For all we know, they could be immune to the drug by now, or come up with defences against it."
"We also ran the test against the Wraith arm Major Sheppard brought back from Athos, General," Pulla shook her head. "The results were the same: near complete resistance."
"So what do you recommend?" Theron stopped and raised an eyebrow at both medical scientists.
"We need to take the work to the next level, and for that we need a test subject," Carson sighed. "A live one."
"You need us to capture a Wraith," Theron's eyes narrowed. "You realise what you're asking for?"
Carson nodded grimly.
Theron took a deep breath, closing her eyes and eventually said, "Very well, we have a raid planned two days from now on a Wraith outpost. I'll have it added as a secondary mission objective." The General nodded at them both as she stepped into a Transporter station and tapped her destination on the rear pad, her face had become a stone mask…the doors closed, there was a flash and she was gone.
"What was that all about?" Pulla asked her fellow Doctor, seemingly mystified as to the grim air between the two Terrans.
"One of the darkest chapters of Terran history, Pulla," Carson shook his head. "It's something that we don't like to think about, but we dare never forget it. Almost all children on Earth the moment they reach late puberty are taught about it. Capturing a Wraith in war for forced medical experimentation…" He sighed heavily. "My dear, let me tell you about an awful chap named Doctor Josef Mengele and a bunch of bloody bastards called Unit 731…"
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Colonel Henry MacTavish cursed as he jumped behind a tree, whispy blue bolts threading through them from the Wraith battle line, seeking to hit him and his unit of twelve men that was trying to advance through this forest towards the looming Wraith structure a kilometre away. The structure itself was ugly as shit, vaguely circular, organic, with dark blue and grey…it almost looked alive, as if it was grown…heck, it probably was.
His troops were using a fire and advance strategy, another two squads was attacking this outpost form different directions, and his reserve squad was trying to flank the line directly in front of him.
His PR8 had already claimed six dead Wraith warriors. He popped out of his cover – sizzling blue plasma bolts whined into the chilly morning air and hit another Wraith…this one a command drone…in the head, which essentially flash fried the thing's brain a millisecond before it's head exploded.
Number seven, he thought with satisfaction, as more whining shots seared through the trees from his men.
'Colonel! We've got heavy resistance on the west side! We need aerospace support!'
"Fuck!" Henry cussed and engaged a link with the Briseus in orbit. 'Briseus, MacTavish – need some help down here!"
"We're still dealing with the Wraith up here Colonel, can Delta team hold out?"
"The Wraith are throwing the majority of their force against them! Surely you can spare one bloody shot from a weapon array!" Henry shot a three bolt burst that felled another warrior.
"We're fighting three Cruisers and a Hive, Colonel! We can't exactly manoeuvre on a whim, but you'll get it."
"Thank you!" he snapped and closed the link, rushing forward and rolling into cover behind another tree. Sure their chromesuits could take five or six of these wimpy Wraith stun bolts, but not seven…and none of them wanted it to get to that point.
A glance at his HUD showed that the battle had only been going on for eight minutes – the whole thing was ample proof of the dictum that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. This was only supposed to be an intelligence raid on a minor Wraith outpost…Briseus had been waiting under cloak on the outskirts of the system – in case the assault teams were cut off from the Gate.
It quickly became apparent the minute they arrived that this was no longer an intelligence raid. They'd had the bad fucking luck to arrive when a Hive and its escorts showed up – forcing Briseus to engage to keep the assault teams from getting mobbed by an armada of Darts. The ship had been aware of the approaching Hive but had not been able to warn off the raid in time – since Atlantis was on the other side of the Galaxy and not in range.
Finally, a searing massive orange beam cut through the sky and strafed the ground in a precision line, massive explosions of earth followed it in a path of pure destruction. Henry grinned in satisfaction as he saw the long line of Wraith bio-signs to the west wink out.
'We're clear, thanks Briseus!" screamed the commander of Delta squad.
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In Orbital space of M31-329, the Briseus yawed to avoid another barrage of Baryon blasts from the Hive, and lashed out with lances of particle energy that hit one of the three Wraith cruisers that were hounding the Dreadnought. The cruiser's thick organic metal hull struggled to hold under the bombardment and dissipate the destructive energy, but it was quickly overwhelmed and the beams bisected the Cruiser neatly in two before blowing up in a massive liberation of energy that by sheer luck took another Cruiser out as well.
Seizing the initiative – eight missiles sped from her tubes that closed at half the speed of light towards the cloud of Darts protecting the Hive ship. The small fighter ships tried their best to intercept and actually managed to destroy two of the missiles by sheer mass of fire, but the relative ranges just left too little time to react and four small artificial suns went nova which reduced over a hundred Darts into their constituent atoms.
The remaining two missiles reached their detonation points, just about five hundred meters from the hull of the Hive, before they too exploded…tearing massive rents into the two kilometre long organic hull…secondary explosions soon started and Briseus fired two yellow particle beams directly into the Hive's power core…
The Hive ship split apart briefly before being utterly consumed in a brief massive energetic flash as its reactor went critical and the energies released in a titanic explosion.
The remaining Cruiser turned to make a run for it. Opening a Hyperspace window, but a snap shot from Briseus hit the ship right on its rear engine emitters. The blue purple cloud of subspace dissipated before it could even form properly into a cohesive gateway, and two more particle beams traced along the spine of the ship before it too was consigned to become a cloud of dissipating incandescent plasma.
Aiyana seated in the Control chair of the massive ship breathed a sigh of relief. They had space superiority, and not a moment to soon, the shields had been badly strained to keep up with the Wraith weapons – it's strength was at thirty two percent and recharging. She sent a mental thank you to Apollonia for designing the Mark 2 ZP Module – the ship's shields would not have held out with a Mark 1 powering it.
She mentally engaged a com link with Colonel MacTavish. 'What's your status?'
"We're inside, battle is ongoing, oh we managed to stun and tag a Wraith Officer. You should be able to beam him up no problems."
Aiyana ran a scan and did indeed find the active tag, and sent a mental instruction to have the Wraith beamed into the ship's brig.
"We've got him, now hurry up and get that intel, I'm not in any condition to take on more Wraith up here."
"Understood."
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Containment Cells, Atlantis, Lantea
John Sheppard walked into the dark ominous area which boasted a number of square…cages for lack of a better word. They were made apparently from the strongest alloy the Alterans could produce. The thin bars were further reinforced with a force field. So the Wraith command drone kneeling in a zen like pose was well and truly locked in with no way out. There were also four Terrans in full chromesuit alien disguise, keeping constant watch on the thing, with PR8s ready at all times.
He truly wondered why MacTavish had chosen him for the interrogation of the Wraith – there were surely a heck of a lot better guys for this job than him. But he had been given an order by a superior so he would just have to wing it and see what happened.
John walked up to Sergeant Bates; who had been detailed to oversee the security arrangements, "Anything I should know about, Sergeant?"
"No, sir, he's been quiet."
"Still trying to make you see things?"
"He gave up a day ago; I think he got tired of getting mentally whipped."
John walked up to the bars and the Wraith looked up with those hawk-like green eyes.
"Howdy, I'm Major Sheppard," John grinned, hoping his holo-mask translated that to the Wraith. "Oh, sorry if I woke you. Just came by to see if there's anything you needed – magazine, fresh towels."
The Wraith stood up to its full height; the body length dark leather overcoat flaring. It snarled baring its mouthful of bug teeth at him.
"What are you?" the Wraith asked in anger.
"Now why should I enlighten you?" retorted John. "Do you have a name? This conversation will be so much easier. You guys do have names, right?" The Wraith simply stared in response. "Let me guess..." John looked away mockingly for a moment as if thinking, "... Steve?"
"I am your death. That is all you need to know," sneered the Wraith, looking around interestedly.
"I prefer Steve," John shrugged.
"What do you hope to gain from this? Your race's attack will be met with swift reprisal from the others."
"I doubt they'd know where to find us, it's a big Galaxy, after all," John gestured with his hands mockingly. "But what do I hope to gain? Just trying to bridge the gap between our two cultures; get to know you better. That and try to figure out how to keep your kind from sucking the life out of millions of innocent sentients in this Galaxy."
"Even if I told you what you want to know, it would change nothing. You are doomed – as are any others that stand in our way," sneered the Wraith now known as Steve.
"You know, we're gonna leave you here for a long time," John grinned. "Have you fed on a human recently? Yes, no? Just how long can you go without feeding whilst not in a stasis pod? Hmmm? Can't be a nice way to die…hungry…slow…that encroaching feeling of weakness that crawls through your body…slowly…slowly…"
The Wraith abruptly roared and tried to strike out at John, but its claws and hands bounced off the force field. "Why do you keep me here?"
"How many Hive ships are roaming the Galaxy?" John roared back.
"You have nothing to offer me in return!"
"We could talk about easing your hunger ... Steve."
"You would sacrifice a human?" sneered the Wraith. John merely tilted his head and smirked.
"What do you think…Steve?"
"Bring me a human, and I will tell you all you want to know."
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Planet Hoff, Immunity Lab
Carson and Pulla were busy setting up their equipment; which ranged from qomputers, medical scanners, holo displays, DNA manipulators and bio-synthesizers. All of it had to be powered by a portable Naquadah Reactor. Perna was understandable amazed and baffled at all the advanced technology.
"I have never seen devices such as these!"
"The work you've done refining the drug has been good up till now. With all this," Carson smiled, powering up a laptop qomputer; which immediately displayed enlarged microscopic images from the medical scanner in front of him; which contained live cells from the Wraith that was cooling its heels in Atlantis' brig, "we can make it better. From what I can tell, your biggest problem is that the test inoculations failed to show enough of a presence in human cells to be effective."
"What we need is a better delivery system," nodded Perna in understanding.
"Exactly. And the best place to start is to recreate the key protein in the serum and work our way up from there. If we can avoid having to re-engineer it from a natural source, and make an entirely synthetic version, it should ultimately increase the efficiency."
"Such a thing is possible?" Perna asked doubtfully.
"Of course, anything is possible Perna," Pulla smiled as she powered up the bio-synthesizer and started to manipulate its controls.
Carson nodded in agreement and clapped his hands together. "C'mon then, a bald head is soon shaved." And began to tap on the qomputer, virtually displaying the key protein chain they were working with and began to manipulate it.
"You speak differently than the others," Perna observed.
Carson smiled, "Noticed that, did you? Sorry if I confuse you. I come from distinct sub-culture on my world. Trust me, where I come from, it all makes perfect sense."
"What is it like?"
"Scotland? Oh, I think it's beautiful. But I'm told it's something of an acquired taste,"
"I meant your world. It must be so peaceful there, knowing that the Wraith will not come."
Carson shook his head in a rueful laugh. "Oh, you'd be surprised how not peaceful it is. My people are not just here for giggles. We're fighting against a race at home that is in some ways more powerful than the Wraith."
"More powerful?" Perna's eyes almost bugged out at hearing that.
"Aye," Carson nodded sighing heavily, thinking about Earth.
"You miss it – I'm sorry for enquiring."
"Oh, no, no. Don't be, love. All right, Pulla, can you get started on the simulations?"
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It took two weeks of work before both Carson and Pulla were satisfied with a first prototype version of the Wraith inoculation. There was a problem however.
A holographic human body hovered in the air, it was given the test inoculation, and they watched as the protein asserted itself…they sped up the simulation and abruptly the human body flared red.
"Blast!" cussed Carson, whilst Pulla felt like smashing one of the tables.
"What is it?" Perna asked staring at the holograph.
"We've analyzed the inoculation's effect over time and over a broad range of genetic profiles," Carson explained with a weary sigh. "It indicates that one in every three people who takes this drug will die of acute respiratory failure within a few days of taking it."
"And the two thirds who survive?"
"They'll have immunity; the drug is showing one hundred percent cellular penetration," Pulla explained. "We overlooked something…it's the only explanation."
"I think we need more heads in on this, we should send our research in the next datastream to Earth, get full-time medical researchers in on this," Carson asserted.
"I think this is important enough to warrant establishing an intergalactic wormhole in and of itself," Pulla argued.
"Aye," nodded Carson.
"How long will that take?" Perna asked uncertainly.
"Sending the research back, by tomorrow, given we've done the hard work of DNA sequencing and building a prototype, we could see a hundred percent safe version being manufactured within three weeks, maybe a month, if that is at all possible."
"My people have waited a long time to see the completion of this drug, Carson," Perna said earnestly. "But can we afford that time, with the Wraith awakened?"
"We will do all within in our power, Perna, to make this happen as quickly as possible."
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Milky Way, 2000 LY Rimward from Terra
The four hundred meter bulk of the Terran Destroyer Apollo emerged from Hyperspace into one of the last meticulously calculated areas of space that had been designated as a prime spot to deploy one of the new satellites that would form a detection grid between Terra and the Aschen Confederation – it was known as COSUS (Cosmos Surveillance System). This was Apollo and Odyssey's first mission as fully commissioned vessels and both ships had spend the last three weeks deploying the horse-shoe shaped grid which would effectively box in the Aschen.
Odyssey had already completed its assigned satellite deliveries and this delivery would make the first phase of the COSUS net complete. There would later be a second phase which would essentially encircle Terra at a range of three thousand light years – which would act as a backup to the extra-galactic Asgard satellite net.
The satellites themselves were about the size of an F302, and using phase shift technology could both make itself intangible and invisible. They were powered by a combination of Naquadah reactor and a Tollan derived Field generator. The satellite had a truly phenomenal detection range of over a sixty light years in every direction and was also now sophisticated enough that it would penetrate the latest generation of Goa'uld cloaking devices.
The COSUS net construction had also given the opportunity to amass a truly huge amount of scientific data on astro-phenomena and star systems which were completely off the Stargate grid - since both ships had to travel far off the beaten path.
Harry and the rest of SG1 had joined Apollo for the last three satellite deployments – the reason for this was pretty much that Sam had managed to finagle her way onto the ship to do scans of a nebula that had pretty much intrigued her since staring at it through a telescope during her college days.
Of course, Jack had immediately called in a marker with General Hammond and pretty much said, "Where she goes, SG1 goes."
Harry's reason for coming along was – besides the scientific interest in the odd nebula – that he had gotten an oddly strong premonition of the future; he had no idea of the details…just that he had to be on the Apollo during this time.
Her commanding officer was a rather no-nonsense Colonel Abraham Ellis – of average height but visibly quite strong – he strode around his ship in the new obsidian coloured chromesuit that was issued to all STO Space fleet personnel serving aboard a starship. The 'Eagle' of a Colonel was mounted on his shoulders and red command piping traced along his collar. He ruled his ship with iron discipline and expected hundred and twenty percent from everyone.
Harry found himself impressed with the Colonel's ability as a ship captain; he got results and his crew was a well oiled machine already and motivated. On the negative side, Ellis had a tendency unfortunately to be a bit overbearing on occasion, and looked down upon the scientists on his ship as 'undisciplined rabble'. He was clearly of the opinion that Apollo was a warship and a scientific vessel a distant second. He also saw the science systems on board as draining power which could be better allocated elsewhere.
Which was why he currently didn't look too happy discussing the scientific mission with Sam and Harry as they emerged from a gravitic elevator and onto the Bridge deck. Both were also clad in chromesuits as well, but kept the silver scheme – seeing as they were not in Space Fleet.
"So this thing is different from the bog standard nebula, how?" Ellis asked flatly.
"Well, that's the thing, Sir, using telescopes from Earth we've never been able to account for some of its composition," Sam explained.
"And it just so happens that this nebula is in the general vicinity of our last COSUS satellite deployment."
"It'll only be a little out of our way, Colonel, I promise," she swore. "All I ask is for two hours tops."
"Very well," Ellis nodded with a wooden expression and entered the Bridge.
"Feel the enthusiasm!" Harry said in an undertone and grinned at Sam, whose mouth twitched as she suppressed a laugh.
They entered the Bridge and took unobtrusive positions next to the Science station, and observed the crew as they attended to their duties. Sam took a spare seat at next to the Apollo's own Science officer and began to prepare her scanning programs for when they would reach the nebula.
"Ellis to Flight deck, what's the status on that satellite?" the Colonel spoke into his chair com.
"Ready to launch, sir."
"Then by all means."
"Yes, sir."
Barely two minutes later the large forward viewscreen showed the satellite using it's gravitic thrusters to move into its preprogrammed position. It had a multi-pronged hexagonal design and was additionally made with light absorbent materials that would let it blend into the background of space – of course, it didn't really need it with a phaseshifting cloak, but if there's one thing that STO engineers liked to have, then it was redundancy.
"Satellite is in position and coming to a relative stop, sir," reported the Sensor officer.
"Thank you," nodded Ellis. "Com, are you receiving a test signal from the satellite?"
"Not yet, sir, wait one…affirmative, it's broadcasted the test signal, all systems are go," the Com Officer replied. "I can also confirm that it's communicating with the other satellites." The Officer frowned as he worked with a near blinding speed at his station. "We've got a positive correlation, sir. The COSUS net is active."
"Satellite is cloaking," said the Sensor officer.
"Well done, everyone," Ellis nodded with a rare smile, and the Bridge crew allowed themselves a moment to relax and enjoy the feeling of a successful mission.
A beeping alarm from the Com officer's station, focused everyone's attention there though. "Uh, Colonel, we've got a contact on COSUS," the man said with astonishment.
"Already?" Ellis asked incredulously.
"Yes sir, confirmed," the Com officer nodded, staring into his holoscreen. "In fact, it's hovering just outside our own sensor range."
"Does the satellite have a positive ID on the contact?"
"Silhouette and power readings match an Aschen battlecruiser."
"Damn it, give me Tactical!" snapped Ellis.
The viewscreen of the starfield and the distant nebula vanished for a moment to show the Aschen ship's position relative to the Apollo.
"It's shadowing us," Harry murmured. "They clearly have a longer range on ship sensors than we do."
"I thought the Aschen Hyperdrive was too slow for them to have reached this point so soon, Commodore?" Ellis turned in his chair to address the question to Harry.
"It's possible that this is a deep space vessel on extended deployment that they merely redirected to head in our direction," Harry posited.
"The odds of our encountering it are totally ridiculous," Ellis shook his head. "Yet here we see it."
Beep, beep, beep.
"Sir, energy spike from the Aschen cruiser! It's in Hyperspace headed straight for us on an attack vector!"
"General quarters!" Ellis snapped.
The Bridge lighting turned to an eerie blue, and the crew strapped themselves into their seats. Flashes of light heralded the conforming helmets materializing over their heads. Apollo's shields snapped into full power, weapons were charged and the crews manning the missile tubes armed their payloads.
"All decks report General quarters!"
"Weps, status?" Ellis snapped.
"All neutron cannons are in the green, sir, and tracking, Interceptor grid is online, AHM1Cs are hot in the tubes," the Weapon officer reported.
"Then let's give these genocidal SOBs a nice warm reception."
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